PonyFans.com

Rivals indicates that 3 star Taylor Thompson, a 6'7", 224 lb TE from Prosper TX will visit tomorrow. He has a soft verbal with Vanderbilt where he visited last week.

hmm great prospect-kid has about 7-8 offers but truly a head-shaker since he's a TE. I wonder what position he's being recruited for. Very surprising that a productive TE-not just a blocking TE would have SMU so high on his list. Anybody know if he's a prospect at other positions?

He's an absolute beast, but my reaction was the same as Stallion's: for what position?

Defensive end?

OK he actually committed to Vandy as a DE not a TE-starting to make more sense. BTW one of the latest reports said he had over 30 offers.

Stallion wrote:... over 30 offers.

Wow!

the specific offers listed by Rivals include Vandy, SMU, Duke, Louisville, Nebraska, OSU, Purdue, South Carolina and Stanford.

DE makes sense, given the heighth. Nice wingspan as well I would assume. Lord knows we can use all the D-line help we can get.

Wonder if he could also be used as a possession-type receiver. I would assume they would have to have a place in this offense with all the underneath routes.

At the Scout.com combine Taylor ran an impressive 4.75 second 40-yard dash, a 4.33 second shuttle and had a 30.3 second vertical jump

this page has all kinds of stats both offensively and defensively and as a PUNTER believe it or not. Looks like the kid can move. Plays at 3A Level.


http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:07 ... cd=3&gl=us

Thompson made the First Team Dave Campell's Texas Football Super Team as a TE-I don't believe SMU has gotten a kid on that team since the "great" Marcus Mosley.

Stealing this guy would be a major coup; I hadn't heard anyone had a chance to steal him. He's very impressive at TE, but there's a reason a lot of college coaches like him at DE. He has a chance — with a lot of work — to be a truly exceptional defensive end. For what it's worth, I have him close to 240 pounds, but I don't know if my file or the 224 listed here is more recent. Either way, he's a very impressive physical specimen who's going to get much, much bigger. I talked to one coach who told me he could see Thompson getting up to 280 or perhaps even more without losing any speed. He's not the purest pass rusher yet, but he has a lot of natural ability. For someone so tall and with such long arms, he's surprisingly strong against the run. If he can add 40 or so pounds, he'll be virtually unblockable. He can get way up to knock down passes, and he's surprisingly adept moving a frame that big around blockers. He almost certainly will redshirt his first year (regardless of what school he ends up at) as he refines his defensive understanding and lives in a weight room. Has a non-stop motor who reminds me of a poor man's version of Aaron Kampman. There will be a learning curve, but the potential is enormous. I've heard scouts say that if he played 5A football, he'd be a five-star prospect. Not sure I'm ready to go that high, but he definitely flies under the radar because he plays at a small school in a town nobody can find.

Recruiting Guru wrote:Stealing this guy would be a major coup; I hadn't heard anyone had a chance to steal him. He's very impressive at TE, but there's a reason a lot of college coaches like him at DE. He has a chance — with a lot of work — to be a truly exceptional defensive end. For what it's worth, I have him close to 240 pounds, but I don't know if my file or the 224 listed here is more recent. Either way, he's a very impressive physical specimen who's going to get much, much bigger. I talked to one coach who told me he could see Thompson getting up to 280 or perhaps even more without losing any speed. He's not the purest pass rusher yet, but he has a lot of natural ability. For someone so tall and with such long arms, he's surprisingly strong against the run. If he can add 40 or so pounds, he'll be virtually unblockable. He can get way up to knock down passes, and he's surprisingly adept moving a frame that big around blockers. He almost certainly will redshirt his first year (regardless of what school he ends up at) as he refines his defensive understanding and lives in a weight room. Has a non-stop motor who reminds me of a poor man's version of Aaron Kampman. There will be a learning curve, but the potential is enormous. I've heard scouts say that if he played 5A football, he'd be a five-star prospect. Not sure I'm ready to go that high, but he definitely flies under the radar because he plays at a small school in a town nobody can find.

We seem to have a few new people on this board that disqualify these kids if they play at anything less than 5A. While the level of competition probably helps, I wouldn't think that it totally precludes finding great prospects at smaller schools. Afterall, Eric Dickerson played at 2A Sealy!

Stallion wrote:hmm great prospect-kid has about 7-8 offers but truly a head-shaker since he's a TE. I wonder what position he's being recruited for. Very surprising that a productive TE-not just a blocking TE would have SMU so high on his list. Anybody know if he's a prospect at other positions?

I've never understood why they don't run a 6'7" WR in the inside WR and have him run a slant on 3rd and short...

Lets get this guy! It sure is nice being on a list with those schools!

Guru - you're back! Always glad to have your insight - thanks so much.
Looking forward to more!